Cries of Determination
by gamecubenut
Summary: Following the destruction of the barrier and the monsters' newfound freedom, Frisk decides to do one last thing before he leaves the Underground — with disastrous consequences. Waking up in a different world, Frisk finds himself surrounded by new friends eager to know him. But after getting close to one girl in particular, Frisk discovers that she needs him more than he realizes...
1. Prologue: Curiosity

**A/N: Alright, so after looking around on the site, I noticed that while there are a TON of Undertale crossovers, ones involving Higurashi are nonexistent. That's kind of strange, considering they both share a common theme of building friendships and solving problems without having to resort to violence. Fate and willpower play a key role in both series, but unlike Higurashi, where fate is something that cannot be changed easily, Undertale is all about taking control of the story yourself and bending it to your will, for good or ill.  
**

 **With this in mind, I started coming up with the idea for this story after I realized just how similar Frisk is to a certain character from Higurashi. Those of you familiar with both series will know exactly what I'm talking about. If you don't understand, then I highly recommend watching/reading all of Higurashi and playing through the entirety of Undertale, as there will be heavy spoilers for both of them in this fanfic. With that said, enjoy my first ever fanfiction story!**

 **Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is property of 07th Expansion**

 **Undertale is property of Toby Fox**

* * *

Prologue: Curiosity

As I look upwards towards the sky past the now broken barrier, I can't help but feel a little nervous. While I'm happy that my adventure is over and the monsters are free, I have no clue what's in store for me now. After experiencing all that the Underground had to offer, including the other timelines, I've grown attached to it. But I've made up my mind, I'm leaving for good. I'm not leaving because I want to, though.

If I stayed, the monsters would be trapped down here until the next person fell down, _if_ one ever did. Needless to say, that was not a risk worth taking.

"heya, kiddo. are you all ready to go? you gotta pretty important job to do now, being our representative and all." Sans said while waving to me.

"Just a minute, Sans. I have something I need to do first." I waved back as I turned toward him.

"oh really? what's so important that you have to hold up on leaving? you already said goodbye to everyone, right?"

"Just something I've been curious to see, that's all. I would've done it sooner, but there was a barrier that needed breaking." I shrugged as I started walking away. A thought occurred to me right as I passed Sans.

"Hey Sans?"

"yeah, kid?"

"Do you… do you think you could fill in for me as representative, while I'm away?" I asked.

"uh, sure I guess. why?"

"The thing that I'm going to see might turn out to be really interesting, so I could be gone for a while. In the meantime, someone needs to act as a negotiator between monsters and humans. You can't just wave hello and expect good results, you know." Considering how much effort it took just to make it this far, it would be a shame for everything to fall apart because of a misunderstanding.

"i get ya. so, why did you pick me and not somebody else?" Sans asked.

"Because you can understand people better than anyone. You _were_ a judge after all. That and I wanted to give your lazy bones something to do for a change." Sans grinned a little wider than usual at my remark.

"hey, i'm not lazy; i just really enjoy doing nothing." Sans said, earning a chuckle from me.

"You just keep telling yourself that, Sans. Maybe if you put some _backbone_ into your work, you'd have a _skele_ -ton of free time later." We both laughed and exchanged some more bad puns until it was time for me to go.

"See you later Sans, take care of everyone while I'm gone, okay?" I reached out as we shook hands.

"you got it kiddo. don't take too long though, Toriel might get worried after a while; you know how much she cares about you."

"I know, I'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?" I said, nonchalantly.

"heh... guess you'll see. see ya later, kid." We waved goodbye as I left for my destination.

Sans's workshop.

Okay... for the record, rummaging through someone's stuff is really rude, and I'd never do something like that to a friend. But, Sans was kind enough to give me the key to his room back at his house, and after looking around for a bit, I found the key to his secret workshop. If Sans didn't trust me enough to let me in there, then he never would've given me the key to his room in the first place. It's almost like he _wanted_ me to see it. There isn't really anything too special in there, just a few blueprints for some strange devices that I don't understand _,_ a picture of Sans smiling while surrounded by people I don't recognize, and a poorly drawn picture of three other smiling people along with the words "don't forget" written in lower case. But there's something else in here that I've never looked at before in all my time spent in the Underground, a machine covered with a sheet at the far end of the room. I had left it alone on the assumption that because whatever it was was covered, Sans didn't want me to see it for some reason.

But after a while, I got curious. What could be under the sheet that Sans felt the need to leave covered even though he let me in here? Could it be something he's working on that he's trying to keep secret? Maybe it's a failed experiment and he doesn't want to look at it. Or maybe, it's nothing at all and he was too lazy to remove the sheet before I came in here.

Knowing Sans, it wouldn't surprise me.

"Well, here goes nothing." I said, preparing for whatever might be hidden underneath the sheet.

I pulled the sheet off of the machine, and what do you know?

"I have no idea what this is..." I groaned.

At first glance, it looked like a strange walk-in shower surrounded by tinted glass without any pipes or a drain. The glass was frosted, making it impossible to see inside. Noticing a door, I open it and take a look at what's behind it.

Inside the strange machine is a monitor, a set of buttons, and a circular space on the floor that says "stand here." On the ceiling is some type of device pointed directly at the center of the place where you'd stand. Not a lot makes sense so far, but all of these things seem to be small parts of the machine as a whole. So what does it do, exactly?

"Well, only one way to find out..." I say to myself, stepping back outside and plugging the machine into the outlet in the wall. The instant the machine was plugged in, the lights in the workshop dimmed for a moment, and then a strange humming sound filled the room. Walking back into the machine, I shut the door behind me as I went to see what happened.

The interior of the machine was dimly lit with a soft, neon blue glow from whatever it was that was on the ceiling. The air itself seemed to shimmer and bend around it, as though the light was being sucked into a vortex above my head. In front of me was the monitor, now displaying a list of various places and a picture of what they looked like, with the buttons being used to look through the available options and pick out one for viewing. That's when it hit me.

'He's made a machine that lets you travel to different places.' I concluded.

I couldn't believe it. Sans found a way to leave the Underground, and he didn't tell anyone! Why? Why keep this a secret from everyone? Looking closely at the different places it could take me, I understood why. While some looked like they could be pretty easy to live in, others were very dangerous and outright scary to look at. But that wasn't all. Some things that should have been consistent in all of these places, like the color of the sky, did not match. Once more, while Alphys told me that humans were the ones in charge on the surface, several locations didn't look like people lived in them at all. There was even a place where gigantic, skinless things walked around eating people, nearly making me sick to my stomach. I'm sure that Alphys would've said something about those in her history books, but she never did. That left me with only one conclusion.

This machine wasn't just a thing that could take me to the surface, it would take me to a whole new world.

'There's so many of them...' I thought, looking through the different worlds I could visit. There were far too many for a normal person to see within their lifetime.

I guess it's a good thing I can SAVE and LOAD then. I have all the time I'll ever need.

After spending a while looking through the different worlds I could visit, I settled on the one that caught my eye. The picture that appeared on the monitor in front of me showed a small village in the countryside, which was set inside of a valley surrounded on all sides by thick forest and tall mountains. It looked like the most beautiful and peaceful place to live in any of the worlds that I'd seen so far.

I made up my mind, I'm going sight seeing. I'll be a tourist visiting from another world, how crazy is that?

After making a SAVE point so I could come back later, I highlighted my destination and pressed a big red button that confirmed my selection. In an instant, a blinding light filled the center of the machine, and the air became heavy, making it hard to breathe. Or so I thought.

I began to panic, because I realized that it wasn't the machine making it hard to breathe, it was the person that suddenly appeared and wrapped their arms around me, as if clinging to me for dear life.

"Don't leave me here! I don't want to be alone again!"

As I turned my head around, I saw a kid no older than me with red eyes wearing a green sweater with a yellow stripe across the middle looking at me with the same expression of panic I had. They buried their face into my shoulder as weightlessness overcame me and I passed out.

* * *

 **A/N: One thing that I see a lot of in crossovers is the use of some portal/gateway thingy in order to bring the two worlds together. Am I the only one irked by this? I mean come on, it's literally the most cliché way possible to create a crossover. It works well for series involving magic and sci-fi, but for everything else? Maybe I'm underestimating the difficulty in creating a plausible alternative to bringing two completely different universes together, but it bothers me nonetheless. Ironic, considering I'm guilty of doing the very same thing I'm complaining about by using a teleporter lol.**

 **As it turns out, the reason I chose to bring Frisk into the world of Higurashi this way is because the true purpose of the covered up machine in Sans's workshop is never revealed, so everyone is free to speculate on what it might be. As for me, I'm utterly convinced that the machine is a teleporter, and I'll tell you why.**

 ***SPOILERS AHEAD***

 **When you talk to the shopkeeper in Snowdin, she mentions that Sans and Papyrus just "showed up one day and... asserted themselves." Not much to go on, but should you decide to do the Genocide Route and fight Sans, he says this. "look, I gave up trying to go back a long time ago. and getting to the surface doesn't really appeal anymore, either." Notice how Sans is differentiating the two locations; they're not the same thing. So that begs the question: Where was Sans trying to go back to, and how did he and Papyrus wind up in the Underground? The answer is never given at any point in the game, so no-one but Sans knows. As far as I'm concerned, Sans built a teleporter to try and go back to his home world, and he either couldn't find it and gave up or decided that life in the Underground wasn't so bad after all, that's my take on it. What do you think?**

 **Also, don't worry about future chapters being this short. As this was only the prologue, it only needed to be as long as it had to in order to set up the story, as a prologue is supposed to do. The first proper chapter will begin Frisk's new life in the world of Higurashi, and he won't be alone...** **  
**

 **See you soon!**


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

For as long as she could remember, the girl had fought.

To what end, you may ask?

So far it's all been for naught.

This hopeless, insurmountable task.

To be able to live is all she would want.

She wished to spend time with those she held dear.

But instead she struggles, haggard and gaunt.

For now, the girl lives in fear.

Out of thin air, the two children came.

From whence did they come?

There's new pieces in this game.

May they fare better than some.

The girl yearned for a miracle, defeated and dejected.

But what she would receive was something completely unexpected.

Frederika Bernkastel

* * *

Chapter 1: Arrival

As I slowly started to wake up, I noticed two things. The first was that I was outside, as I could feel the sun's heat coming down on me. Although thankfully the slight breeze made it more bearable.

The second was that I was being held in someone's arms.

My eyes shot open. I had expected to see whoever it was that nearly strangled me back when I was inside Sans's machine, but what I saw instead made my heart skip a beat. Kneeling in front of me with one hand holding my head and the other my back was a girl — a human girl. She was inches away from my face, staring at me. I nearly jumped back in surprise, but as I was sitting on the ground, I tripped over a log behind me and fell over backwards.

"Ow... that hurt." I said as I brushed myself off.

"Are you okay?" I heard a voice to my side and turned. It was the girl, looking at me with concern. Now that there was some distance between us, I could see her more clearly. She was around my age, maybe 9 or 10, and a little shorter than me. What I noticed right away afterwards were her strange eyes and hair. Her eyes were purple while her hair was blue, colors I didn't know you could have. Her hair was long at the back, going down to her waist, while it stopped just above her eyes at the front with two stray locks on each side of her head stopping just below her shoulders. She was wearing a green sundress with a white bow at the front, and sandals for shoes. 'She's really pretty.' I thought to myself.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The girl said _._

"It's okay, I just didn't expect to see you in front of me like that." I said.

"Are you hurt? That fall looked painful, sir." I looked myself over as she came up to me.

"Maybe a little bruised, but nothing serious. I've had a lot worse than this before." I said.

"That's good." The girl replied. "I was afraid that I might have caused a new friend to get hurt." I looked up as the girl stood in front of me.

"You... want to be my friend?" I asked.

"Yes. Is there a problem? Do you not want to be friends with me...?" The girl looked heartbroken as she looked into my eyes. Jeez, you'd think that her life was at stake with the way she looked at me.

"No. I-I mean I don't know. It's just that we just met each other. I don't know anything about you, and you don't know anything about me. We don't even know each other's names yet..." I said, looking off to the side.

"My name is Rika! But please, call me Rika-chan." She said, smiling. "What's your name?"

"I'm Frisk. It's nice to meet you." I said, returning her smile with mine.

"So..." Rika began, looking at the ground briefly. "Would you be my friend?" Again with those eyes... Does being my friend really mean that much to her?

"I don't see why not. Sure, I'll be your friend." Rika was beaming at me in happiness.

"Thank you. I have a few good friends at school, but only one is the same age as me. It's nice to have another person my age to talk to."

"I know how that feels," I said. "I used to have a lot of friends where I came from, but only two were kids, and we can't be around each other anymore."

With that thought, I nearly forgot something really important.

"Hey Rika-chan, have you seen another kid out here? She looks like me, but with red eyes and a green sweater?" Rika nodded in response.

"Yes. They're over there." Rika pointed to a tree behind us. Sure enough, there she was, asleep. "Are they a friend of yours?"

"I don't know." I said. Rika tilted her head in response.

"You don't know? What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"I mean I don't know. I've never met her until today, but she seemed to know me somehow. I have a few things I want to ask her, but I'll have to wait until she wakes up." I said, walking over to her and sitting down next to her.

To be honest, it was hard to tell if the person next to me was a boy or a girl, something that I can relate to given my appearance. The only reason I know that she's a girl is because of her voice, as she begged for me to stay with her back in the Underground. That brings up an interesting question: Why did she act as though she already knew me, despite the fact that _I_ never met her? In an underground cavern filled with monsters, a human would've stuck out like a sore thumb. I was the only human alive in the Underground when I fell into it, that I know for certain. Six other kids like me fell in before I did, but they all died, their souls being kept in jars waiting to be used along with mine to break the barrier. But one detail that bothered me was the coffins in the basement of New Home, which held the bodies of the kids that died. My soul happens to be red, and when I saw a coffin with a red soul carved into it, I thought that someone had made it in advance when they intended to kill me. But when I took a closer look, I saw someone else's name on it.

Chara.

I had never heard of that name before. I figured that maybe Chara had been the only person to survive long enough to tell one of the monsters who they were before they killed them and took their soul, which would explain why only their coffin had a name on it. But after resetting the timeline to an earlier point and exploring Alphys' old lab, I learned that I was wrong, and that the truth was something completely unexpected. When I walked through Alphys' old lab, known as the True Lab for its secret experiments, I found a series of old video tapes and a tv. Unfortunately, the lens cap was on for every tape that was recorded, but thankfully the sound still worked. As it turns out, Chara had fallen into the Underground before Asgore had ordered that all humans who entered were to be killed and have their souls taken. As a result, they were adopted by Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel Dreemurr, the family leading the Underground. Chara became a symbol of hope for the monsters, a sign that humans could in fact live with monsters peacefully.

The monsters in New Home told me how Chara had suddenly gotten very sick one day, and died not long after. They didn't say how this happened, but after viewing the tapes in the True Lab, I figured it out. One day, Chara and Asriel decided to make a butterscotch pie for Asgore, and the recipe had called for cups of butter. Unfortunately, they used buttercups on accident, which turned out to be poisonous flowers that made Asgore sick. After this, Chara had come up with some kind of plan for something, and asked Asriel to gather buttercups for them. The next tape had Chara asleep with their adopted family praying for them to wake up. I connected the dots back then and came to only one conclusion.

Chara ate buttercups on purpose, despite knowing that they were poisonous, and died.

Why in the world did they do that? I'll probably never know, unless by some miracle Chara's ghost has been stalking me the entire time I was in the Underground and came with me when I left. Human souls _do_ persist after death, and Chara's soul wasn't with the other six that Asgore had been keeping. I guess it's a possibility. But really, what are the odds?

"They're waking up!"

I was brought back to reality by Rika, who had sat down with me as I waited for our mystery person to wake up from her sleep. She started stirring for a moment before slowly opening her eyes. When they landed on me, she shot up and tackled me in a hug.

"Frisk! I thought I was going to lose you forever!" She buried her face into my shoulder and cried.

"Hey, hold on," I said, as she looked back up at me. "I don't remember meeting you. Who are you, and how do you know my name?" She took a while to calm down before she sat down and looked at me.

"Well, as for how I know you, that's a bit of a long story, one you probably won't believe." She said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Try me." I said.

"Later, when we can talk in private."

"Why?" I asked. The girl shook her head.

"It's just something I want to keep between us, that's all." I closed my eyes and sighed in resignation.

"Okay then." I reopened my eyes and stared straight at the girl. "That leaves my other question. Who are you?"

"That's easy. Even though you've never met me, you already know my name." She said, smiling.

"Really? How about you jog my memory?" I asked, skeptically. The girl stood up and curtsied as she looked down at me.

"Greetings. I am Chara."

* * *

I opened my eyes, surprised to find that I was in a completely different place than I last remembered. I was lying down on a bed, indoors. 'What happened?' I thought to myself. I sat up, looking around the room. The walls were white and spotlessly clean with a nice, fresh scent in the air. Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room opened, and a man walked in.

"Ah, so you're awake. I was beginning to wonder when you'd come to." He said, taking a seat in the chair next to me.

"Who are you, and where am I?" I asked, looking around the room some more.

"You may call me Dr. Irie. As for where you are, you're currently inside my clinic in Hinamizawa." He replied, organizing a stack of papers in his hands.

"A clinic? How did I get here?" I asked, confused.

"Well... from what I've been told, you lost consciousness and were brought here. One of my regular visitors, Furude Rika-chan and another young girl carried you through the doors and called for a doctor. My assistant nurse then placed you here in this room. I must say I'm perplexed. When I heard that you fainted, I suspected that heat stroke, dehydration, or maybe low blood sugar might have been the cause, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. If you don't mind me asking, what was the last thing you remember before waking up here?"

Chara. The girl said that was her name. I just sat there in shock and stared at her until for some reason everything went black. 'I was so surprised that I forgot to breathe.' I thought. Great, I probably scared Rika. I had questions for that mystery girl before, now I'll have to ask her why she shares her name with a dead kid. That's the reasonable thing to do, right? Ghosts aren't real. Well, there was Napstablook... No, ghosts _are_ real. There is a real possibility that the girl I met in the woods is the real Chara, who somehow knows me and came back from the dead. But her coffin in New Home was empty with nothing but rags in it, so how did she get her body back? I guess I'll just have to ask her and hope I don't sound crazy.

"Are you alright?" I looked up and saw Dr. Irie looking at me with slight concern.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about what happened before I woke up here. I must've spaced out." I said.

"It's okay, take as much time as you need." He replied.

"Well, I was out in the woods exploring when I met Rika. The other girl she was with was a long lost friend of mine, and I was so excited to see her again that I guess I forgot to breathe." Irie chuckled.

"That would explain why I couldn't find anything wrong with you during the examinations. But may I ask a question?" I nodded.

"Why didn't you use honorifics when you referred to Rika-chan by name?" Irie asked.

"Is that something that you do for everyone? Sorry, I'm not from around here, so I don't really know how things work here." I said, looking down.

"Well, here in Japan, not using honorifics when referring to or speaking to another person can not only be rude, but it can send the wrong messages to other people. The fact that it was a girl you were speaking about would certainly raise a lot of eyebrows." That got my attention.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"When a boy and girl are on a first name basis with each other and don't use honorifics, it usually means that they are in a relationship. At the very least, that is how others will see it." Oh...

"So do you think I have a crush on her?" I asked. Irie smiled in response.

" _Do_ you?" I choked on my own spit at that, and it suddenly got very hot for some reason. Irie held a hand in front of his face as he laughed.

"My apologies, I was only teasing you. Though it seems my question has received an answer." Clever, very clever. That's exactly the kind of thing Flowey would've done in this situation. I should be careful where I steer conversations from now on, or I might embarrass myself again.

"She is beautiful, isn't she?" I looked up to see Irie with a smile. But it looked... sad?

"If Rika-chan returns your feelings... please, take care of her. She has suffered much during the past few years, and even though she has adjusted well to the events, I find myself wondering from time to time just how much she might be hurting beneath the surface. Her friends have been very supportive of her, but perhaps she needs someone who is... more than just a friend?" The humor in Irie's voice disappeared, so I knew that he was being serious about this. This sounded less like a request and more like a plea for help.

"I promise." I said. Irie smiled again, for real this time.

"Thank you."

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"It seems you have visitors." Irie said. "Are you feeling well enough to say hello?" Judging by the fact that he was smirking, the humor is back. Why do I get the feeling that this isn't a question? Sure enough, before I could say anything Irie opened the door, causing 6 different people to walk in. Rika and Chara were the only ones I recognized, with a new girl with orange-brown hair running up to me and wrapping me in a hug.

"Hauu! So cute! I wanna take you home with me!"

What have I gotten myself into?

* * *

 **A/N: When I began writing this story, I took a very big risk, one that experienced writers would probably hound me to death for. You see I had this great idea that absolutely would not get out of my head, something which all writers can relate to, so I started writing it down. The problem was, even as I started publishing the prologue, I did so without knowing for sure what direction the plot would take. Before I finally decided on where to go story-wise, there were at least 3 different concepts that I thought about using, not only for this chapter but for the entire story as a whole, each radically different from the last. The good news is that I finally have a solid idea for what's going to happen. The idea of what it would be like to see a first-person story (like Higurashi) from the POV of another character has always intrigued me, so I've decided to do it here.** **The story will follow Higurashi canon for the most part, but because it's going to be from Frisk's perspective, the only things the story will follow are what HE sees and hears. This way it won't be as simple as Frisk merely being inserted into the pre-existing storyline.  
**

 **See you soon!**


	3. Chapter 2: New Friends

Chapter 2: New Friends

"Hey Rena, put the poor kid down. You can't just go around hugging strangers, you know!" A voice said. It was one of the new people that came in, a boy judging by the sound. I say that because I'm being squished into the chest of the girl in front of me, so I can't see very well. She loosened her grip on me, and I was able to look up and see her.

She was taller than me by quite a lot, as I was being lifted off of the ground as she hugged me. She had orange-brown hair in an angled cut, with the front being parted in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes were a deep, vivid blue, just like mine. She was wearing a white dress which had a slit up the middle, with a purple bow and sash, while she had a white cap on her head and brown knee-high boots. She wasn't a kid like Rika, but she wasn't old enough to be a grown up yet, either. I think Alphys called them teenagers in her notes on humans, so this is my first time seeing one. Looking at the rest of the new people that Dr. Irie let in, two others look like they're around the same age, with a blonde-haired girl being the only kid among them.

"But Keiichi-kun, he's not a stranger, he's Rika-chan's friend! Aren't you, aren't you?" The girl said, looking down at me.

"Which means he's a friend of ours, too!" A different girl came up to us, smiling with her hands on her hips. Her hair was... green? What an odd color. Then again, Rika's was blue, so maybe not so much.

"Excuse me, but who are all of you, and why are you here?" I asked, trying to be polite.

"They're my friends, and they're here for you." Rika said, walking up to me and standing by my side. "When Chara-chan and I left you here, I called them and told them about you and how we became friends. They all want to know more about you." So she wants to introduce me to them? Okay then.

"Alright, so where do I start?"

"How about telling us your name first? That way Rena can know the person she's hugging." The green-haired girl said, smirking.

"Hi, my name's Frisk. It's nice to meet you all." I felt myself being lowered to the floor. I had forgotten that I was being held this whole time. The orange-brown haired girl set me down as she looked at me.

"I'm Rena Ryugu, it's nice to meet you too! You don't mind hugs, do you? Do you?" Rena asked, tilting her head. Her facial expression was probably one of the cutest I've ever seen. I knew right away what my answer was.

"No, not at all. But can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"...Would you mind _my_ hugs?" I asked, holding my arms out wide. In a split second, Rena switched from being confused to glowing with joy.

"Hauu! So cute! You can hug Rena any time!" She lifted me up and I found myself being pressed into her chest once again as I returned the hug. I remembered back in the Underground how Toriel would give me a hug before I would leave the Ruins, and how warm and comforting it felt. 'This feels even better.' I thought. So soft...

"Feeling comfy, are you?"

I looked to my right and saw the green-haired girl, who was looking at me with a mischievous grin.

"Looks like Rena's taken a liking to you. Lucky kid, you've got the best place to rest your head now!" I looked back up at Rena, who was smiling serenely, eyes closed as she held me before I looked at everyone else.

"So," I said. "Who do I get to meet next?" The green-haired girl stepped forward.

"I'm Mion Sonozaki, class rep of Hinamizawa School and leader of its one and only club! I'm actually the one who brought everyone else here. Rika called me and told me about you and Chara-chan, and I rang up the others and told them to come with me so we could meet you two."

Now that Rena didn't have me held quite so close to her, I was able to see Mion better. She had green hair, which was styled into a ponytail that ended just below her waist, with her bangs being parted in the middle. She wore a yellow shirt with a slight black turtle neck, a white sweatshirt tied around her waist, blue jeans and brown shoes. What caught my attention was the gun holstered on her left shoulder. It was painted in bright orange and red, which made it stand out a lot. It was probably just a toy gun, unlike the revolver I had carried with me in the Underground. Mion was slightly taller than Rena, and her chest stuck out more, too.

I'm glad that it was Rena that liked hugs, Mion might've suffocated me.

"Since you've already met Rika-chan," Mion said, counting her fingers. "That just leaves Kei-chan and Satoko-chan. Come say hello, you two!" Rena let me go again as a boy stepped forward, the same one that I had heard earlier.

"Hi, I'm Keiichi Maebara. My family and I just moved here from the city about a month ago, so technically I'm new here too."

Keiichi was the tallest out of everyone in the room, probably close to twice my height. He had brown hair and violet eyes, and wore a black, sleeveless shirt beneath a red vest, green shorts with a black belt and red shoes.

" This is Sato—OOMPH!" Keiichi was suddenly punched by the blonde girl, and doubled over in pain on the floor.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!" Keiichi exclaimed, holding his stomach.

"I think I'm more than capable of introducing myself, Keiichi-san." The girl said before turning her attention to me. She had blonde hair with a black headband on top and violet-red eyes. She was slightly taller than Rika, about as tall as me. She wore a pink, sleeveless collared shirt, blue shorts, a belt and pink sneakers. As she was talking, I noticed that she had very sharp canine teeth.

"So you're Rika's new friend? From what I've heard, Rika wanted to be friends with you even before she knew your name. What makes you so special that she'd consider something like that?" She asked, glaring at me. Rika stood next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Satoko, aren't you forgetting something?" Rika asked.

"...Hojo. Satoko Hojo." The girl said, looking away. Chara, who had been staying at the back of the room, came up to me and folded her arms.

"Well that was rude... I think she's jealous of you." She said in a low voice as the others gathered around Satoko.

"Why? What did I do?" I asked, confused. Chara turned to me and sighed.

"While you were out, I went with Rika to her house and she introduced me to Satoko. The two of them live together and they're best friends, probably even closer than I was with..."

Chara paused before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say," she began, wiping her eye with her sleeve. "Is that Rika wouldn't stop talking about you, and how special you are. Satoko is jealous of you because you've taken Rika's attention away from her." Is that all? Why would she be so upset about that? I asked Chara, only to have her shake her head.

"I don't know," She said. "That's something you'd probably have to ask Rika about." Okay, then. I'll try to get to the bottom of this when I can. Satoko and I might have had a rough start just now, but I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding.

"So," I asked, as everyone else was still talking to Satoko about something. "What do you think about them, Chara?"

"They seem alright, at least in terms of first impressions. Rena is a little clingy, though. Evidently she's obsessed with cute things... Anyway, when I met them, they asked me all kinds of questions, and I had to make up some answers for a few of them."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like where you and I came from, how we got here, you know... things we can't tell them the truth about." Oh no! I never thought about that!

"What did you tell them? Did they believe you?" Chara smiled from the side as she giggled.

"I told them that you and I are orphans, and that we ran away from home together looking for a new place to live. Technically it's true; you and I have no parents, and you've taken us to a new place we could call home if we wanted to. My story seemed to strike a chord with Rika, as she offered her condolences to us."

"Well, that's nice." I said, liking Chara's idea. "Thanks for doing that for us, I forgot all about how we'd handle being asked about our pasts."

"You're welcome." She said. Soon after, everyone else had gathered back in front of us, with Satoko being in the center.

"So, Satoko-chan..." Mion began, folding her arms. "Do you have something you want to say?" Satoko fidgeted for a moment before looking at me.

"I... I'm sorry, for how I acted. Rika and I are best friends, and hearing about her being so interested in you made me think that you'd take her away from me. I realize how stupid that sounds now. I just met you, so I can't judge you so soon."

"It's ok," I said, trying to cheer her up. "From what Chara told me, you and Rika care about each other a lot, and I'd never split best friends apart. I'm just a new kid in town, so it's normal for her to be curious."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Satoko said, agreeing. "To be honest, I'm curious about you and Chara-chan as well."

"We all are." Mion stepped forward. "It's not often Hinamizawa gets visitors, so it's good to have new people freshen things up."

"Plus, you two have been wandering around homeless without a family. That's no good." Keiichi said with conviction.

"Hauu... Frisk-kun and Chara-chan have nowhere to go. Can they stay here, here?" Rena asked, looking at us with puppy dog eyes. I turned to Chara, looking for her answer.

"Hey, why not?" She said, shrugging. "It'll be a new experience. I'll go wherever Frisk goes." Suddenly, all eyes in the room turned to me. I found myself glancing at Rika. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. 'What's she saying?' I thought. I looked closer, trying to see what she was trying to tell me. I read her lips, and the message was clear.

'Stay with me.'

Wow, Rika likes me enough to let me stay at her house? That's really generous of her. I can have a place to call home in this world on the first day!

"I'd love to stay here." I said, smiling. Everyone looked really happy to hear that.

"That's great!" Mion exclaimed, pumping her fist in excitement. "Three new friends in the span of one month, things are really looking up here!"

"Yeah, the more the merrier!" Keiichi said, giving us a thumbs up.

"Yay! Welcome, new friends!" Chara and I were swept off our feet by Rena, who held us close and rubbed her cheeks against ours. I guess this is what Chara meant when she said Rena was clingy, as she looked slightly annoyed. 'I wonder if this is what happened when they first met?' I thought. Chara had a permanent blush on her cheeks, which looked really cute. There's no way anyone couldn't see it that way, so it's no wonder why Rena took a liking to her.

"So..." Satoko said, getting everyone's attention. "Where are they going to live here? Not just anyone is going to take them in." Everyone's excitement died down as they thought about this. But I already knew the answer.

"Can I stay at your house, Rika-chan?" She perked up at my question, along with everyone else.

"Umm... sure." Rika said. "But my house may feel a bit cramped with four people living there. It's very small."

"That's okay, Frisk and I won't need anything beyond the basics." Chara said as I nodded.

"Well, there's a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room which doubles as the sleeping space." Satoko said, counting off the rooms on her fingers. "That's all there is to it."

"That's all Chara and I need. Thank you very much." I said. Keiichi patted my back as he smirked.

"You're a lucky kid. You've got two cute girls taking care of you now!"

"H-hey!" Satoko exclaimed, blushing. "It's not like that! We're just letting them stay at our house, that's all! Stupid, perverted Keiichi-san!"

"I don't mind taking care of you." Rika replied, smiling at us, me in particular. I swear that Rena glowed brighter than the sun as she went on about how cute the four of us looked together. Eventually, Mion reminded everyone that it was getting late, pointing to the clock on the wall.

Everyone started getting ready to leave before Mion stepped forward.

"Hold on there, you two." She put her hands on our shoulders as she bent down to look at us.

"Now that you're going to be living here in Hinamizawa, it's my duty as class rep to inform the school of any new students that might be joining."

"Wait, we're going to school?" Chara asked, surprised. Mion nodded.

"Yep. It's mandatory for everyone to attend until they're 18, so I have to let Chie-sensei know so that she can prepare a curriculum for you. Don't worry, I'll make sure you have fun there. I've already decided to let you be a part of our club!"

"That sounds wonderful." I said. "Thanks for all your help."

"Eh, don't mention it." Mion replied, waving us off. "Now, you and Chara go on home with Rika and Satoko, it's going to be a big day tomorrow so I want everyone to be rested and ready. Got it?"

"Got it." Chara and I said together.

"Good to hear. See you tomorrow!" Mion waved goodbye as she left. Chara and I said goodbye to Rena and Keiichi (with one last hug from Rena, of course) before meeting Rika and Satoko outside.

* * *

Evidently I had been out cold at the clinic for a while, as the sun was setting. There were barely any lights to brighten up the area at night, so it was getting dark fast.

"I was hoping I'd get to see more of this place before nighttime." Chara said, sighing.

"I don't know, a good night's sleep sounds pretty nice right about now." I replied. Satoko turned to look at me with a questioning stare.

"You were knocked out for an entire day at the clinic," she said. "How can you still be tired?"

"Being unconscious is different from sleeping." Rika said, defending me. "We should all get some rest, Mii-chan will have a lot of things planned for tomorrow." With that said, we all started walking to Rika's house. The way forward was a simple dirt path with a few buildings here and there, but nothing really worth mentioning. To pass the time, we all asked questions about each other, so that we could get to know one another better.

It turns out that both Rika and Satoko are orphans, and they live together in order to support each other. The idea of two kids living alone without grown-ups surprised me, so I asked how and why they did it. Rika explained that her family, the Furude House, as it was known — had a special place in the village of Hinamizawa. They were in charge of running the shrine that housed Oyashiro-sama, the god that watched over the village. One day, Rika's dad died, and then her mother drowned herself — something that neither me nor Rika understood. After this had happened, all of the duties that would've been done by her parents were passed to her, and because Rika was capable of doing all of these things by herself, she was allowed to live alone without any grown-ups taking care of her. A year later, Satoko moved in with Rika after her parents fell off a cliff by accident. This was shocking to me. Not only did they both lose their parents, but they carry on all by themselves and no-one seems to mind. I asked Rika how they were dealing with this.

"It's been hard sometimes," she replied. "But our friends have been very supportive. They're the best group of people anyone could ask for, and I'm glad to have you along with them." I smiled in response.

"I'm glad to be with you too, Rika-chan." Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she smiled back.

 _"Nipaa!"_ Rika made some strange sound I couldn't understand. It sounded happy, and cute.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"That's one of Rika's verbal tics." Satoko replied. "She only does that around people she really likes. Rena goes wild whenever she does it." So it's Rika's way of telling me that she likes me? For someone who's known me for less than a day, she seems eager to get close to me. Not that I have a problem with that, I had many friends in the Underground that wanted to hang out. However, none of them were human, so this is something new.

"So, Frisk-san, what about you and Chara-chan? What did you do before coming here?" Rika asked. I have to be careful here, I can't say anything that doesn't match what Chara had already told them.

"Chara already told you, didn't she?" I asked, trying to get an idea of what they know.

"Just that the two of you are orphans and that you've been looking for a new home. I'm so sorry to hear that, no-one deserves that fate."

"Well," I began, trying to think of something. "Before Chara and I came here, we lived in a place called the Underground." Chara raised her eyebrow at me, she probably thinks I'm just going to tell the truth. I can't talk about the monsters, that's the one thing they can't know about.

"The Underground? That sounds creepy, like a dark cave. Why did they call it that?" Satoko asked, interested.

"Because the Underground _was_ a dark cave. Or at least it looked like that on the surface, anyway." Both Rika and Satoko stared at me in confusion.

"Let me explain," I said, holding up my hand. "The Underground wasn't just a hole in the surface like a cave, there was a whole town down there and I found it on accident when I fell from a cliff into the entrance."

"It's true," Chara said, backing me up. "I was exploring the side of a mountain on my own one day when I fell into the same place. I met Frisk not long after." Rika looked amazed, but Satoko was different.

"Do you have proof of what you're saying? It sounds fishy to me." Satoko asked, skeptical.

"Yes. Look at these." I said, taking out some pictures I had taken during my time in the Underground. Among them were beautiful snapshots of all the different places: The Ruins, Snowdin Forest, Snowdin Town, Waterfall, Hotland, the Core, and New Home. I had several different things that I brought with me at the time I had used Sans's teleporter to come here, just a bunch of stuff to remind me of my time spent in the Underground in case I never came back. Both Rika and Satoko were shocked at what they were seeing.

"This looks beautiful..." Rika said, looking at Snowdin Forest. "What's all the white stuff that's everywhere?"

"That's snow. Haven't you seen it before?" Rika shook her head.

"It's like rain," I explained. "Except it's frozen and floats down slowly, covering everything."

"Hmm... it looks fluffy, I'd love to play in it sometime!" Rika exclaimed, excited. Meanwhile, Satoko was busy looking at the other pictures, and stopped when she saw Hotland.

"What in the world is this? Is that lava!?" She asked, in disbelief.

"That's Hotland." Chara said, looking over her shoulder. "Evidently, the Underground had a volcano forming under it and some people decided to move in there. No idea why, it was way too hot for me."

"Wait, all of these places are a part of the Underground, right?" Satoko asked. "How can it be cold enough to snow in one area while there's a volcano in another?"

"That's the best part about the Underground, there's something for everyone there. Hot, cold, wet, dry, light, dark... you name it, it's there." I explained.

"Sounds like a lot of fun. Can you take us there one day?" Rika asked me, tilting her head.

"It's pretty far away from here, but I'll see what I can do." I'm not sure about that at all, actually. It's one thing for me to come here, but another for Rika to come back with me. If Rika wants to see the Underground, it'll have to be before the barrier was broken, but how do I do that? The only way for me to go back is to re-load my SAVE point, but that'll undo everything that's happened here, and I don't want that. I may never find my way back here, which means I'll never meet Rika. I'm not taking that risk.

"We're here." Chara said, causing me to look up. There was an enormous set of stone stairs that led to a fancy building with decorations on it.

"This is the Furude Shrine. My house is just over there." Rika pointed to a small building with a big metal folding door on it. We walked in through a regular door on the side and Rika shut the door behind us.

"So, what do you think? Is it too cramped for you?" Rika asked us. In truth, the house was pretty small, with every room having a doorway that led to the living room where we stood. The living room itself was mostly empty except for a few decorations and two mats with a pillow and blanket, where Rika and Satoko slept. The kitchen had a fridge, sink, counter, and a few cupboards. The bathroom had a tub, toilet, sink, and mirror. There wasn't any air conditioning, so the window in the living room was left open to let the late night breeze cool the house.

"It's a little smaller than the last house I stayed in," I said, after seeing how close everything was. "But I don't mind. Thanks again for letting us stay here."

"You're welcome. If there is anything Satoko and I can do to make you feel more comfortable, please let us know."

"Ok. I have some things I need to talk to Chara about, so we'll be back in a second, ok?" Rika nodded.

"Ok, see you soon." Rika said, waving before Chara and I walked outside.

"So..." Chara began, folding her arms. "You've waited all day for this. Do you think you can handle the truth?"

To say that I was surprised was an understatement. What Chara had told me when I asked her who she was and how she knew me made me look at her in a totally different light. I first asked her if she was the same person that Asriel had mentioned by name in the video tapes from the True Lab, and she said yes. When I had calmed down enough after learning that the person in front of me rose from the dead, I asked Chara how she knew me when I never met her before. Chara had been with me from the very beginning of my journey through the Underground — _and I didn't even realize it._ When I had fallen into the Ruins for the first time all those resets ago, the flowerbed I landed on was her burial place. Chara explained that when Toriel left for the Ruins, she had taken her body and buried it under the flowerbed as a more fitting place to rest instead of the coffin in New Home where she was originally. Chara then said that me falling on it woke her soul from its sleep, and after feeling the emotions coming from my own soul, she latched onto me and stayed with me, watching me make friends with everyone as I moved throughout the Underground. Chara said that after feeling the compassion that I had felt for everyone, she had become interested in seeing how I would handle the barrier, as she had come up with a plan to break it when she was still alive. When I asked her what her plan was, she said:

"First, I would eat buttercups until I became sick and died. Then Asriel, already informed of my plan, would merge with my soul and we would cross the barrier together. After arriving at the nearest village, we would use our combined strength to kill six humans and take their souls. Then, we would go back to the barrier and use the power of the souls we had collected to destroy the barrier and set everyone free."

"That was your plan?" I asked, stunned. "You were going to kill people... to free everyone?" Chara looked away, not wanting to look me in the eye. "That's wrong, Chara! You can't just go around killing people!"

"What would you have done, then?" Chara asked. "We needed human souls to break the barrier. Did you think that they would just hand them over to us?"

"..."

"Exactly. Do you remember the five other kids that fell down? If Asgore hadn't ordered that all humans be killed when they arrived, then Asriel wouldn't have been able to absorb their souls to destroy the barrier. All of us would still be trapped underground."

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, afraid of what I was about to hear.

"What I'm trying to say," Chara began. "Is that your idea of a perfect world without suffering is foolish. People will always be hurt no matter what, and there's no changing that. You may not have harmed anyone during your stay in the Underground, but you did take advantage of the deaths of five innocent children in order to help set everyone free."

I was speechless. I wanted to say something, anything to try to prove that Chara was wrong. But I couldn't, because she was right about everything. The barrier could not be broken without human souls, and they would never give them up willingly. Even if they did, they would die without them — or worse. Five other kids had fallen into the Underground and had their souls taken, which was the only reason why Asriel was able to break the barrier. With the power of the five human souls, all he needed to do was absorb most of the other monsters' souls to equal the power of a sixth one, then he could set everyone free.

In order for the barrier to be broken, people had to die. Chara had simply found the quickest and easiest way to do it.

"But... people shouldn't have to die! Why did it have to be that way?" I asked, trying to hold back tears.

"The situation was out of our control, and the awful people who sealed everyone underground are responsible for it." Chara said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "But, I'm glad that you stuck to your principles, actually."

"Really?" I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Yes. It's why I decided to follow you around in the Underground, and why I'm here now. You're the most kind person I've ever met, and I really wanted to show myself to you back then, but I was worried about how you'd react to seeing me."

"So," I asked. "Why are you here now? What made you decide to come with me?"

"Well," Chara began. "When I saw that you were about to use that skeleton's machine, I was scared that it might not work the way you thought it did. I was afraid that if it did take you somewhere new that you wouldn't be able to come back. So, with every last ounce of strength I had, I used my determination to reform my body and grab on to you. Unfortunately, I had several abilities that I seem to have lost now that I'm corporeal. I might still be able to remember things from other timelines, but there's no way to test that without you re-loading a save or resetting the world."

"Wait, you remember the other timelines? You know everything that happened?" I asked, amazed. I thought only Flowey and I could remember!

"Yes, I remember. That reminds me, why did you keep resetting after you freed everyone? I figured that you would've stopped after you made it back to the surface."

"I didn't want to leave the Underground behind," I said, a warm feeling coming over me. "I had so much fun there, I made so many friends... I couldn't let it go."

"You had nostalgia and homesickness for a place that you loved." Chara said as I nodded.

"Yeah. But I realized that by resetting every time, I was keeping everyone trapped in the Underground. So I decided that I was going to leave for good so that the monsters could be free. I had something that I wanted to do first though, which is why we're here."

"Do you plan on going back?" Chara asked, taking me by surprise.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, I had Sans take over for me as negotiator before I left, but that was only supposed to be for a little while. I had no idea that I'd be exploring another world like this."

"Well, here's another question. What if you don't _want_ to go back? What if you decide to stay here for some reason? Did you ever think about that?" Chara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Then... I guess I'll just deal with it then. I mean, if I'm staying then the monsters can be free since I won't be resetting the world anymore, and I made a SAVE point I can re-load in case anything goes wrong here. So it doesn't matter either way, really."

"If that's how you feel, then I trust your judgement. I don't care about anything else as long as you're here with me. I don't want to be alone again, especially not in a world that I know nothing about." Chara said as she shivered, holding herself tight.

"If you're feeling cold, then let's go back inside and get some sleep. I've heard everything I wanted to hear." I said, putting a hand on Chara's shoulder. She smiled as she hugged me.

"You're warm... Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked.

"Sure. Let's go." We walked back into Rika's house and shut the door behind us. Rika and Satoko had tidied up the house a little while we were out, and were getting ready for bed.

"You're back!" Rika said, smiling happily. "You were gone for a long time. What were you talking about?"

"Nothing much, just personal things." I replied. "Are you ready for bed yet?" Rika nodded.

"Satoko and I were just waiting for you."

"Wait," Satoko said, noticing a problem. "There's only two pillows and two blankets, and they're ours. Where are they supposed to sleep?"

"How about we all share?" I suggested. Both girls blushed, so I decided to clear things up. "Chara and I already agreed to sleep together, so you girls can sleep on one side while we sleep on the other. Is that ok?"

"That seems reasonable. I wouldn't want my friends to sleep on the hard floor." Rika said, agreeing.

"You two agreed to sleep together? B-but..." Satoko froze for a while, trying to come up with words. "Boys and girls don't sleep together! Not until they're older, and a couple!"

"It's not like what you're thinking." Chara explained. "I asked to sleep with Frisk so that I wouldn't be cold. That's all." Satoko narrowed her eyes before grinning.

"Sure it is... And Rika talks about Frisk-san all the time because she thinks his clothes are weird..."

"Is that true, Rika? Are my clothes that strange to you?" I asked.

"No, that's not true at all, sir!" Rika said, shaking her head and waving her arms frantically. "Your clothes are perfectly fine, nothing wrong!" Huh, there's mixed messages going on here...

"She's just teasing you." Chara said, turning to me. "I've seen the way she acts around Keiichi. Believe me, he has it _way_ worse." So Satoko is just messing with me. Well, I hope her idea of jokes are harmless like Sans'. Though I don't think he made fun of someone indirectly like that, so Satoko might be craftier than him.

"Heh, is that so? Well, an old friend of mine taught me a thing or two about pranks. I bet I can get you back." I said. The grin on Satoko's face became even wider.

"Ohhohoho! Don't be so sure about that, I'm known as the Trapmaster for a reason. You'll never get me!" I grinned back at her.

"I already have something in mind. Don't bother looking, you'll never see it coming."

"We'll see about that. I won't let my title be stolen by the likes of you!" After going back and forth for a while, we eventually got tired and settled down. Chara and I shared one side of the pillows and blankets, while Rika and Satoko had the other. The way we laid down meant that I was in the middle, with Chara on my left and Rika on the right. Satoko tried to get us to rearrange, but Rika wouldn't let her for some reason. As everyone fell asleep, I found myself to be the last one awake as I thought about how I was going to get Satoko to fall for my prank. Just as I was about to sleep, Rika opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Frisk?" She whispered.

"Yes?"

"Can you... hold me, please?" She must be cold too, I guess.

"Sure, come here." I said, opening my arms. Rika wrapped herself around me before resting her head beneath mine. After making some happy sounds for a moment, she fell asleep in my arms.

'That's strange, she doesn't feel cold to me...' I thought, before closing my eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: I made a promise that we'd be getting longer chapters from here on, so here we go. This one's roughly twice as long as the previous entries, which unfortunately for me means it took twice as long as usual to write. :/ I had the events planned out the way I wanted them to go, but it took some time to get them to flow the way I wanted them to. I find that while many fanfics that I've read have some very cool ideas, the authors sometimes rush ahead with the plot a little too quickly. There's a fine line between going too fast and too slow, and most of the time that I spent writing this chapter was actually used to pad out the sequence of events to make sure everything was running smoothly. Once the story gets into proper canon with Higurashi next chapter, things will get going much better since I'm familiar with the series. Frisk and Chara's presence within the setting _will_ affect what happens, but not until they actually realize just how horrifically messed up Hinamizawa is beneath the surface.  
**

 **P.S. I added a poem to the beginning of chapter 1. Higurashi had poems at the end of the various arcs, usually detailing the view of what happened from an outside perspective. These were written in free-verse, meaning that they had no rhyme or reason in terms of style. I will be adding poems at the beginning and end of each story arc so that it will be easy to tell when they start and end. For my poems, I have decided to go with the Shakespearean sonnet style, as it forces you to come up with some interesting rhyming schemes to keep them flowing. I used to write poetry a lot during my free time, so hopefully my skills haven't gotten rusty in the years past.**

 **See you soon!**


	4. Update, new chapter coming soon

**Holy crap, 3 months and no new chapters, what happened!? Well... life happened, that's what. I planned on updating the story about every month, give or take a few days, but some things happened that pretty much threw that idea out the window. In case you haven't read my profile, I've been having some car trouble lately. First the transmission went, which cost** ** _$2800.00_** **to rebuild, then the ENTIRE rear brake system fails, the fuel line breaks spraying gas everywhere, and now the cv joints on the steering axle are bad. FUCK. ME.**

 **While I'd been trying to find time to deal with all of that, one of my co-workers left to find a new job. Of course since I'm one of the most liked and trusted people there, my boss basically gave me her job until he can find a suitable replacement. While that's great since more work hours equals more money, it also means I have considerably less time to write now. It's taken some time, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. The next chapter will be in excess of 10000 words in length once it's done. It's a nice, comfy size that's not too short nor too long, so that'll be the standard for new chapters from here on out.**

 **In my downtime, I've been brainstorming some new concepts that'll really shake things up down the line. I had a p.m. conversation with one of my followers where I briefly outlined what would happen with the Hinamizawa Syndrome and how Frisk (and by extension, Chara) would be affected by it. Long story short, I have a** ** _much_** **more interesting take on it now, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that you'll love it.**

 **See you soon! Hopefully sooner than last time.**


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